The present invention relates generally to surface alignment apparatus and more particularly to a system for measuring and displaying parallelism of two surfaces using a video monitor and at least three displacement transducers.
Many instances arise wherein the parallelism between two flat surfaces must be measured and/or ascertained. This requirement arises in various large installations such as horizontal turbine rotor rebuild projects, aligning couplings, and aligning turbines and generators with the sole plates during installation as well as checking any surfaces in a shop that are required to be parallel. Additionally, it is often desired to check the flatness of a surface when compared to a surface known to be flat.
Traditionally, parallelism between surfaces is determined by measuring the perpendicular distances of three points on one surface to three points on the other surface. When all three measurements are equal, the surfaces are parallel. The measurements are crudely made using a tape measure or accurately made using a pin micrometer.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a system for measuring and displaying parallelism, or the lack thereof, of two surfaces using a video monitor, support electronics, and at least three displacement transducers.
A further object of this invention is to provide a visual display wherein desired theoretical parallelism between two surfaces is compared to the actual parallelism as measured by multiple transducers.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a visual display comparing theoretical parallelism between two surfaces and actual parallelism such that one surface may be adjusted until the theoretical display and the actual display coincide.
A further object of the invention is to provide a visual display of two parallel surfaces indicating the flatness of one surface when compared with a surface known to be flat.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken together with the drawings.